Recoil operated ammunition feed for machine guns



Sept, 11, 1945..

D. E. 'HoLLowAY v2,384,746 I RECOIL OPERATED AMMUNITION FEED FOR MACHINE GUNS I Filed Dec'. 15, 1941 2 sheets-sheet 1 lINVENTOR. dy

A TTORNEY Sept. 11, 1945.

D. E. HOLLOWAY REGOIL OPERATED AMMUNITICN. FEED vFOR MACHINE GUNS `Filed Dec. 15, 1941 2 sheets-sheet 2 INVENTOR. 7am/'6J E.' /70//0 Wa MMJM ing. l

Patented Sept. 11, 1945 Recon.

OPERATED AMMNITION FEED v `FonY MACHINE GUNS f Daniel E. Holloway, Inglewood Calif., assigner to North American Aviation, Inc., Inglewood,

Calif., a corporation of' Delaware *"Application December 15, 1941, Serial No. 422,976

5 Claims.

feeding of ammunition to rapid re machine guns, and has for its primary object the provision of a safely'effic'ient recoil 'operated mechanism which will-feed cartridges in a link belt'to a gun of this character as fast asv the gun`V is'able to take them,

and at the same time without danger of Aoverfeed- It is well known that the heavy ammunition used at present in movable turrets has made-it necessary for continuous rapid lire, that the Icartridge belt be fed to the gun from a stationary point outside the turret, giving rise to the necessity of twisting of the belt in its movement from a stationary storage space to a gun which,.with its turret, is movable both horizontally and vertically. It is, therefore, an object of the invention to provide a gun carried ammunition feed device bywhich added drag on the belt due to twisting is overcome, and by which continuously effective feed maybe accomplished for a greatly increased number of rounds than` is ypossible at present, without encumbering A,the gun, and by whicha .rapid firing rate may bemaintained.

:A still further object is the provision of a recoil operated ammunition feed whichY will' automatically adjust itself to the requirements of the gun and will maintain the cartridge belt ready atV all times for feeding movements strictly in accordance with the iiring rateandas the gun is ready,

Y (o1. ssa- 33) The present invention relates generally to *the the recoiling portion of the gun, looking along line 3-3 of Figi-1. v

. Fig. 4 is an enlarged vertical, transverse sectional YView through a portion of the feed mechanisms, taken substantially on line 4 4 ofv Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is'an enlarged detail transverse section taken substantially on line 5`5 of Fig. l.

Fig. 6 is an enlarged detail view of the sliding rear vmount for the Vgun taken at line 6-7- 6 in Fig- Referring now 'particularly to Figs. '1 and 2, there is shown in more or less diagrammatic manner an accepted type-ofgun of rapid fire character, in which a portion I0 recoils at each firing operation away from, and rebounds toward, a

relativelystationary portion I I. YThe gun is movin the course of its operation, to receive the cartridges.

Another object is the provision Vof a'feeding mechanism which willnot 'only avoid any tendency to overfeed, but will not interfere with manual or other means of feeding in case a cartridge K fails to fire and there is no recoil for means of the present invention.

The objects ofthe invention as thus enumerthe feeding ated in a general way, along with other and more specific objects, and the resulting advantages of the invention, may be better understoodandmo're thoroughly appreciated in the course of the following detailed description, in which reference is made to the'accompanying drawings, fully illustrative to those skilled in the art. VIn these drawings, which form apart of this specification, y Fig. 1 is a top plan view, partly broken away and in horizontal section, showing thepassociation, of the feeding mechanism with' the gun. v` "A j Fig. 2 is a side elevation looking along the line 2 2 of Figli. e

Fig. 3 is anenlarged detail side view showingth'e means of connecting the feed operating toggle to ably supportedby a sliding block 50,'which slides in'a traclrflil.v Bearing in mind the employment of guns .ofi this character in turrets of small size and `storage capacity,- andv the 'present tendency i toward ammunition of increasing caliber, it has become a matter of the-'highest importance to feed the cartridge belts from a feed box or other source outside of the turret." 'It has become more and more necessaryto do this as the weight of the link connected cartridges, which constitute Vthe ammunition belt, haveincreas'ed in size and hence in weight,iand thus vmay be required to bereinotely located from the'gun.- The diiculties in so doing haveY alsoincreased-.by reason of nthe desire to augmentithenumber of rounds which may be red and at :the same time'feed` to the full ring capacity of thegun,without danger of 'overfeeding .and in -a manner `which will permitA ready allowance for the failure of a cartridge to re.

Inaccordance with the. present proposals, a bracket I2, asA seen 'in Figs. 1 and 2, is suitably, rigidly connectedto the recoiling gun section or portion IB of the gun.A To this :bracketis pivotally vconnected,*atits Aouter end at I3, a toggle lever I4, I A/somewhat similar toggle lever I5 is pivoted at. its outer' end at IG'to the stationary part I I of the-gun. These two levers project laterallyat anangle relative to one another, at one sideof, and horizontally-from, the gun, with their inrrleloends., J'Oled byj av toggle pin I'Ir serving to also connect theirjoinedends to a tubular stem Extendingwithinathe tubular 'stem I8, vand pinned thereto byjpins I9, is one endA of a connesting rod 20 aroundgwhich the extremity of vstem I8 forms an abutment shoulder for one end ;,2 3and has'an enlarged .extremity or head 24 in said hollow stem beyond an internal shoulder 25, thus providing for independent movement of the rod 2|] in one direction relative to the ratchet head. However, the other end of spring 2| abuts the adjacent end of hollow stem 22 and the spring has a normal tension such as to effectively hold the head 24 against shoulder 25 while allowing slight angular displacements of the toggle stem relative to the ratchet head.

As shown in Fig. 2, the gun may be rotated vertically without affecting the operation of the feed mechanism since the longitudinal axes of the parts i8, 2i? and 22 are disposed on the axis of the gun.

As thus far described, it is apparent that upon every recoil movement of the gun portion IU, in a direction away from the stationary part H, the toggle levers i4 and I 5 will shift toward the gun as indicated by the arrow A, thus carrying the stem I8, and, therefore, the ratchet head 23, in a direction toward the gun, spring 2| functioning in this operation merely to hold the parts yieldingly in line. Upon every rebound, the parts will be shifted in the\ direction of their lengths away from the gun and in this movement spring 2| absorbs the rebound to an extent sufficient to assure movement of the ratchet head more or less steadily in a direction away from the gun.

By reference to Fig. 4 it will be noted that the hollow stem 22 of the ratchet head 23 is guided in its movementin a bearing bracket 26 supported on a part of a belt guide box 21. This box is shown with structural connecting members 28 by which it is connected to the structure supporting the gun so as to move with the turret and thus with the gun. The box 21 is open at its sides toward and away from the gun to provide for passage of the ammunition belt toward the gun over a feed sprocket 29 of cylindrical form and mounted to rotate around, and spaced from, a shaft 30. This shaft is journaled at its ends in the end Walls of the box 21 and, at a point spaced from one end of the feed sprocket 29, passes through a slot 3| of the ratchet head 23 which slot is elongated in the direction of reciprocating movement of the head.

As also seen by a comparison of Figs. 1 and 4, the ratchet head 23 is bifurcated'to straddle a ratchet wheel 32 fixed on shaft 3D. The teeth of the ratchet wheel 32 are inclined in a direction to cooperate with an upper actuating pawl 33 of the ratchet head 23 whereby upon reciprocating movement of the head in a direction toward the gun, corresponding to each recoil, the ratchet wheel and consequently shaft 30, will be partially rotated in a direction to assist in the advance of the ammunition belt toward the gun.

Pawl 33 is pivoted on the ratchet head 2,3 at 34 and held in engagement with ratchet Wheel 32 by its controlling spring 35. A dog 3B, similarly held in engagement with ratchet wheel 32 by its controlling spring 31, is pivoted at 38 on a bracket 39 secured to the adjacent end wall of the box 21, and serves to prevent retrograde rotary movement of the ratchet wheel and shaft 33. It will .be noted, however, that, since each recoil shifts the ratchet head 23 in a direction toward the gun to positively impart rotary movement to shaft 3|), and each rebound after recoil shifts the ratchet head in the opposite direction, during which its pawl 33 slides over the teeth of ratchet Wheel 32 andthe latter is held against possibility of reverse rotation by the dog |36, nothing prevents rotary movement of shaft 3U in a feeding direction independently of the pawl and dog. In this respect the parts are positioned to form an over-running clutch.

As before stated, and as plainly seen in Fig. 1, the feed sprocket 29 is rotatable on the shaft 30, that is, with respect to the shaft, the two being connected by a ltorsion spring 4u around the shaft and within the sprocket. One end of this spring is fixed to the shaft and the other end is similarly xed to the sprocket. However, thc sprocket has only limited movement relative to the shaft by reason of a coupling pin 4| xed diametrically through the sprocket as best seen in Fig. 5, and extending through a diametrical opening of the shaft. This latter opening has angularly ared portions 42 at opposite sides of the shaft axis, allowing an angular movement of the shaft 3|] relative to the pin 4|, in an amount greater than the angular movement of the sprocket when a cartridge is taken by the gun.

In operation, it has been explained that each recoil results in arpositive rotary movement of shaft 3D. Such movement does not positively rotate the feed sprocket 29, however, but merely winds up the spring 40, placing an effective tension therein for subsequent action. The reason for this is that at the time of recoil, the gun is not ready for feed of ammunition thereto. The spring being under tension, and shaft 30 prevented from retrograde movement during rebound, the sprocket is held from feeding movement during and after rebound by resistance at the gun to feed of the ammunition belt plus the weight of that portion of the belt which has not yet reached the feed sprocket. As soon as the gun is in a position receptive of ammunition, the spring tensioned feed sprocket acts to assist in the effective feed of the belt and relieves the gun mechanism of the necessity of dragging the belt toward it. In each effective feeding operation the sprocket is free to turn, relative to shaft 30, a distance sufficient at least to provide for each necessary advancing or feed movement of the ammunition belt and in case of failure to fire the sprocket and shaft are capable of being rotated in feeding direction as substantially a unit.

It will be understood that the slight relative movements of the gun parts ID and Il will be translated and transmitted, through the toggle arrangement to provide relatively greater or increased movement in the reciprocating parts by which the sprocket shaft is rotated, the stem spring 2| serving to yieldingly hold its associated portions of the stem in alinement and as a part of the stem during rebound after recoil.

While I have illustrated and described what I now regard as the preferred embodiment of my invention, the construction is, of course, subject to modifications without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention. I, therefore, do not wish to restrict myself to the particular form of construction illustrated and described, but desire to avail myself of all modifications that may fall within the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus ydescribed my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In combination, a mount, a gun carried by said mount for movement about a single axis with respect to said mount and having aypart movable in response to gun recoil and counter recoil, movable ammunition feeding mechanism fixed to the mount in spaced relation to the gun along said single axis, means connecting the movable part and the feeding mechanism for feeding ammunition to the gun, said last-named means having an element disposed for sliding movement along said single axis about which the gun is adapted to move.

2. In combination, a mount, a gun carried by said mount for movement about a single axis With respect to said moun-t and having a part movable in response to gun recoil and counter recoil, a shaft rotatably secured to the mount in spaced relation to the gun along and transversely of said single axis, an ammunition feeding member rotatably mounted on the shaft, a tensioning spring connecting the shaft and member for driving the latter to thereby feed ammunition to the gun, and means connecting the movable part and the shaft for actuating the latter to place the spring under tension, said last named means having an element disposed for sliding movement along said single axis about which the gun is adapted to move.

3. In combination, a mount, a gun carried by 'said mount for movement abou-t a single axis with respect to said mount and having a part movable in response to gun recoil and counter recoil, movable ammunition feeding mechanism xed to the mount in spaced relation to the gun along said single axis, means connecting the movable part and the feeding mechanism for feeding ammunition to the gun, said last-named means including a pair of elements disposed for sliding movement along said single axis about which the gun is adapted to move, and said elements being formed for relative rotative movements with respect to each other.

4. In combination, a mount, a gun carried by said mount for movement about a single axis with respect to said mount and having a part movable in response to gun recoil and counter recoil, a shaft rotatably secured to the mount in spaced relation to the gun along and transversely of said single axis, an ammunition feeding member rotatably mounted on the shaft, a tensioning spring connecting the shaft and member for driving the latter to thereby feed ammunition to the gun, means disposed between the shaft and feeding member for limiting relative movement therebetween, and means connecting the movable part and the shaft for actuating the latter -to place the spring under tension, said last-named means having an element disposed for sliding move-- ment along said single axis about which the gun is adapted to move.

5. In combination, a mount, a gun carried by said mount for movement about a single axis with respect to said mount, and having a part movable in response to gun recoil and counter recoil, a shaft rotatably secured to the mount in spaced relation to the gun along and transversely of said single axis, a belt guiding and feeding sprocket carried by said shaft, means connecting the shaft and sprocket for driving the latter to thereby feed ammunition to the gun an ammunition belt trained over said sprocket, means connecting the movable part and the shaft for actuating the sprocket to feed ammunition to the gun, said connecting means having an element disposed for sliding movement along said single axis about which the gun is adapted to move, and means on the mount for preventing retrograde movement of the shaft and sprocket.

DANIEL E. HOLLOWAY. 

